Japanese Tech Stock Weekly Summary

The following is excerpted from IRG's weekly stock report:

Internet

• Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) announced that starting in June, its Nintendo DS will be offered with an Internet browser in the U.S. The device with the online feature was introduced in Europe this past fall. The device comes with the Opera Web browser. Nintendo has not yet released a suggested retail price for the portable game player. The Nintendo D.S. features dual screens with touch screen, voice recognition and wireless communications capabilities.

• Limelight Networks, a leading content delivery network for digital media, announced it has been selected as the exclusive provider of streaming media services by The New Media Group, KK headquartered in Tokyo. Under the multi-year agreement, Limelight will deliver TNMG's Internet Protocol Television [IPTV] offerings to audiences in Japan, South Korea and other parts of the world. The Limelight network is now delivering a wide range of popular TNMG-enabled content, via its World on Demand”IPTV” portal, which has exclusive IPTV distribution rights to the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup Tournament in select markets. TNMG currently offers more than 40 live TV channels from Great Britain, Italy, Pakistan, India, France, Germany, and Australia to thousands of viewers in its core markets. Limelight is the content delivery network of choice for more than 700 of the world's top media companies, including Akimbo, Amazon Unbox, Belo Interactive, Brightcove, DreamWorks, LLC, Facebook, FOXNews.com, IFILM, ITV Play, Metacafe, MSNBC.com, MySpace, NC Interactive, Valve Software, Radio Free Virgin and Xbox Live. TNMG also operates Media Pay, a Japan and East-Asia payments gateway that utilizes every electronic wallet and conventional payment method available in those markets from minor branded affinity cards to cash collection at 35,000 distribution points.

Software

• HI Corporation, a company specializing in computer software development, sales and support service as well as 3D consulting services, announced its listing on the JASDAQ Securities Exchange on April 12. The company will offer 5,000 shares in its initial public offering. Of those 4,500 will be newly issued, the other 500 are shares currently held in private. The tentative price range will be announced on March 26 and the fixed offering price will be announced on April 3. Nomura Securities is the lead underwriter of the offer.

Hardware

• Renesas Technology Corp. announced that it has become the world's first company to ship more than 1 billion microcontrollers with on-chip flash memory (flash MCUs). Renesas Technology is the No. 1 supplier of flash MCUs worldwide, and MCUs are positioned as the company's core product. Flash MCUs are known for their superiority because of their easy reprogrammability of on-chip flash memory. Microcontrollers with on-chip flash help shorten development time and offer flexibility since they can be re-programmed even after the MCU has been mounted on the product. Since Renesas' parent companies, Hitachi, Ltd. (HIT), and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MTU) began full-scale production of flash MCUs in 1996, Renesas Technology has built up the industry's most extensive lineup of flash MCUs, based on proprietary flash memory technology and MCU technology. Building on the synergy effect of the two founding partners, the company produces in volume flash MCUs featuring excellent performance and reliability. The company said it will continue to develop flash MCUs and to deliver solutions to meet the diverse needs of customers quickly with strong support services. Renesas Technology Corp. is one of the world's leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (audio visual) markets and the world's No.1 supplier of microcontrollers.

Telecommunications

• KDDI Corp. announced that it has entered into an alliance with East Japan Railway Co. to provide fiber-optic broadband services from April. Under the partnership, KDDI will offer the services to 120,000 households by using JR East's fiber-optic network and installing new lines. In October last year, KDDI acquired the fiber-optic business of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. in a dealvalued at 115 billion yen (US$971.8 million), in a bid to catch up with former state monopoly Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) which is also expanding its fiber-optic services.

Disclaimer: IRG is not responsible for the accuracy of the news compiled within this article, which is based on publicly available information.